Having a big brother like Perry was fate. What are the odds we would both be adopted by the same family? Perry was meant to be my big brother as I was meant to be his little sister. He wanted to show me the world and I was always following right behind him. This picture of the two of us captures our relationship. Almost four years apart in age be he never treated me as if I couldn’t do anything because of my age and size. He taught me everything he knew. How to throw a ball, how to climb a tree, how to fake being sick so we both could build forts and play tony hawk. He was always there for me, always protecting me. I have a distinct memory of us in the Caribbean when we were young. I was stung by a jelly fish and began to cry. Perry became upset that this had happened and swore he would avenge me.

He went back in the ocean looking for that jelly fish that hurt his little sister. Obviously he didn’t find the culprit but he found a dead jelly fish on the beach. He grabbed a small plastic shovel and began hitting the dead jelly. All while yelling at it for hurting his little sister. In that moment I forgot about the pain. I was focused on my Big brother being my Hero! Philadelphia has always been a huge part of our lives. Its the way we both arrived to America as babies, and were we visited often. Either to visit our grandmothers, traveling or exploring the city with my family. My brother was always my hero and a great leader, so there’s no surprise that he wanted to serve our country. He now lives in Germany for the army. This is the longest and farthest we have ever been apart from one another. But I know soon he will be arriving back to the Philadelphia airport on leave, and I will be waiting to be reunited once again.